Abe eyes Eastern Europe trip

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering visiting Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in June during a planned trip to Britain, where he is slated to attend an annual summit of the Group of Eight major economies, informed sources said.

Through the trip, Abe hopes to strengthen cooperation between Japan and the three Eastern European countries, all of whom are members of the European Union, in such fields as tourism and investment, the sources said. The G-8 summit is set for June 17-18.

Abe is also planning to visit Myanmar late next month, possibly from May 25-26, for discussions with President Thein Sein on Japan’s continued assistance to help promote the country’s democratic and economic development, the sources said.

The government started to consider a Myanmar trip for Abe after a trilateral summit among Japan, China and South Korea, slated for late May in Seoul, had to be canceled because of ongoing tensions arising from territorial disputes in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.